BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - The Indonesian navy has seized a barge carrying explosives and detonators from Malaysia and police have detained its seven Indonesian crewmen, police said yesterday.

East Aceh district police chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Gaguk Sumartono told journalists in Langsa town that the barge was caught by a joint navy-military patrol in the Telaga Muku waters some 10 kilometers off the coast of East Aceh on Friday.

The boat had a crew of seven Indonesians and two passengers a woman and her five-year-old child, Sumartono said.

A search of the boat that had left Penang in Malaysia yielded 46 detonators and 55 sticks of power gel (an explosive material which is usually combined with other explosives), according to Sumartono.

The seven are being detained at the East Aceh police headquarters, Sumartono told local journalists, adding that because Aceh was still celebrating the end of the Muslim fasting month, their questioning had not yet begun.